Catherine bent her head forward, allowing
Vincent’s mouth to leave moist kisses on the side of her neck as he stood
behind her, his arms holding her close. Slowly his hands slid upward until
each hand cupped a breast already tipped by a hard nipple.

She shuddered and let out a shaky breath, her
hands involuntarily flexing as they searched for something to grab. She
leaned back into his solid warmth and went limp, trusting him to keep her
upright.

Vincent responded by placing a lingering kiss
on the nape of her neck. Pinching her nipples between the thumb and
forefinger of each hand, he used the grip to pull her closer yet. His arms
and body now surrounding her as much as possible in this upright position,
he leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"Catherine…Catherine…"

Catherine woke from the steamy dream of
Vincent’s hands cupping her breasts to a somewhat irritating reality. There
was something tickling her face, and she swiped at it thoughtlessly, trying
to immerse herself back in the dream.

"Catherine…"

The voice was accompanied by a firmer but still
soft touch to her face.

"Catherine?"

She opened her eyes, recognizing her
surroundings with a happy flutter of her heart. She was lying on her side,
facing into Vincent’s chamber from her position on his bed. She felt the
touch on her face again, and rolled her shoulders and head back just enough
to be able to see Vincent’s beloved face hanging above her.

Catherine smiled sleepily at her love and
reached up to grasp his hand. She pulled it forward, the backs of his
knuckles sliding across her cheek and lips. She planted a sensuous kiss in
his palm as soon as the smooth coolness of his nails passed over her lips.

"Is it morning already?" she wondered aloud in
a hushed voice.

"Yes, but very early," he answered in an
equally quiet voice.

Puzzled, she rolled a little further onto her
back. Vincent was lying on his side behind her, head propped on one hand,
just close enough that she couldn’t quite lie flat—her shoulder rested
against his chest and she was conscious of his warmth next to her.

"Then why…?"

"Why did I wake you?"

She nodded.

He pulled his hand from her grasp and
maneuvered himself a little closer to her, the movement rolling her back up
onto her side.

Instead of answering, he returned his hand to
her cheek, caressing it with the backs of his knuckles. He drew it down her
neck and across her shoulder, then pulled it a bit away, only allowing the
tips of his nails to drag tantalizingly down the side of her upper torso.
Her body tensed.

"You were having a dream." It wasn’t a
question.

At the unexpected words, her mind snapped back
to the content of her dream, and she flushed.

"Yes," she confirmed.

"It was…about me?" His voice was tentative,
unsure. This physically intimate facet of their relationship was still new,
and he was uncertain about making assumptions relating to it.

"About us," she corrected, snuggling her back
into his chest and sighing as he ran the palm of his hand down the slope of
her shoulder and torso, down into the dip of her waist, then back up and
over her hip. It felt so delicious to feel his hands on her, finally.

"And what were we doing in this dream of
yours?" His voice came from right next to her ear, and the softly growling
tone and warm burst of breath caused a shiver to make its way down her body.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her body
after its convulsive shudder. "You were standing behind me, and—oh!"

He had trailed his nails down her side again,
but this time he hadn’t stopped at her upper torso. Rather, he had continued
down the same path he had followed earlier with his palm.

The firm pressure of earlier had made her want
to purr in pleasure and snuggle closer. This delicate tracery, on the other
hand, caused an involuntary tensing that arched her back away from Vincent
and had the felicitous side effect of shifting her shoulders and hips closer
to Vincent.

Her surprised gasp was quickly followed by a
tandem moan as her bottom pressed into his groin. Neither of them had been
prepared for that outcome.

Her breath hitched as she tried to recover from
the stimulating sensation, and she relaxed the arch of her back. It had been
extreme enough that holding it in that position was uncomfortable. Still,
she experienced acute disappointment when the easing of her back muscles
also eased her away from the intimate pressure of Vincent’s erection on her
bottom.

Her distress was short-lived.

Vincent, delighted with this new discovery,
again trailed his nail-tips down Catherine’s side.

Her gasp was accompanied by a strangled giggle
and the reflexive bowing of her back. Again she eased the tension in her
body by straightening out her back.

Vincent placed his palm on her shoulder and
followed the path with his whole hand, soothing her. "I did not know you
were that ticklish," he whispered in her ear.

She twisted her neck around so she could look
at him. He had a small enchanted smile on his lips, and she just couldn’t
resist it. "Neither did I," she replied, then lifted her head off the pillow
and latched her lips on to his.

So it was that she didn’t see the mischievous
glint in his eyes or expect the attack that followed.

He ran his nails down her side again, and the
explosive gasp that exited her mouth caused their lips to disconnect.
"Vincent!" she half-shrieked in disbelief.

He was having entirely too much fun with this.
She made a quick decision, and this time she followed the relaxing of her
back with a shift of her hips on the bed, toward Vincent but still not
touching him.

When his nails made their fourth expedition
down the roller-coaster flare of her waist and hip, she was ready for it.
Taking advantage of the tensing of her body, she ground her backside into
Vincent’s shaft.

She had expected his moan, but not the slight
growl that accompanied it. Thoroughly satisfied with the result of her
scheming, she allowed herself a small smile. Two could play at that game.

But Vincent wasn’t finished. They had only been
intimate for a few weeks, and up until now it had been sensual and tender or
hot and intense. This was the first time it had really gotten playful, and
it was a delightful experience.

He grabbed Catherine’s hips and pulled them
toward himself, reveling in her smooth flesh.

She groaned, the new pressure causing her body
to shudder with pleasure. She was always so amazed at the intensity with
which Vincent applied himself to any new endeavor.

His voice interrupted her musings. "Now, I
believe you were telling me what we were doing in your dream…?"

"My d-dream?" Catherine could think of nothing
except the reaction of her body to Vincent’s proximity. He was now grinding
his groin into her backside, and the motion seemed to have a direct result
inside her body. She felt herself growing wetter and wetter, until she
pictured herself as a candle, only one that melts from the inside out…